[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Mary Christmas Song by Mark Robinson

Read:  Luke 1:46-55

What does it LOOK like for someone to worship God through song?  Would they be singing loudly?  Would they be quiet and reflective?  Would their hands be in the air?  Would they be kneeling on their knees?

The truth is, that even though we all have images in our head of what it looks like to “really worship,” outside appearances can be deceiving.  It is totally possibly to “look the part” on the outside, but actually be self-focused, not God focused on the inside.  That is why God looks not at outward appearance alone, but at the heart.  It is totally possible to be deep in worship in any one of the postures or volumes listed above.  After all, it is what is going on inside us that best expresses our heart of worship.

In Luke 1:46-55, there is a passage that clearly depicts a person who is deeply engaged in worship.  It is a song that was spoken by Mary to her cousin Elizabeth in response to all that God was doing in her life.  This song includes within it a great example of worship:

• Mary begins by orienting her worship from the inside out.  It is “her soul” that “magnifies the Lord.”  Her body was probably in a posture of worship, and emotion filled her voice . . . but those were products of a heart that was intent on focusing on God and not herself.  We begin worship when we lift God high, from the inside out.
• Mary also begins her worship by marveling at, and praising God for saving her life, and for involving her in His plans.  She does not come to God with a haughty attitude, but stands back in awe at the notion that the God of the universe loves her that much.  Early in a time of worship, we should reflect on this amazing fact as well . . . God has taken notice of us and uses us in His plans on the earth.  May we never grow tired of hearing this wonderful truth!
• Mary continues by declaring that God has been at work to provide relief for His people, fulfilling promises from ages ago.  Mary worshipped God who was making good on promises that were nearly 2,000 years old at the time she first sung . . . harkening all the way back to God’s promises to Abraham.  When we worship, we can pray to God and trust Him to make good on all His ancient promises to His people as well that we still reap benefits from today.  Promises to be with us no matter what.  Promises to forgive us our sins based on what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross.  Promises to one day come back to this earth and judge evil and re-establish paradise in a new heaven and new earth.  We can worship God and praise Him based on the promises He has made to us through His Word.
• Mary’s song may appear spontaneous, but it is really populated with at least a dozen Old Testament references.  Mary’s previous study of God’s Word provided the very vocabulary for her worship.  We too study God’s Word to learn the language of God, and even more reasons for us to praise Him.  Far more than an academic exercise, study of the Bible is a primer for worship.

Mary’s song is an often read passage at Christmas time for good reason.  It is a wonderful, faithful response of worship from the heart of a person fully following God’s plan for her life.  May God’s preservation of this song help each of us see an example of what it looks like to worship at Christmas time and throughout the year

Questions:

• What do you think it looks like to worship God?

• What can you learn from Mary’s song about worshipping God?

Advent Prayer:

• Spend some time worshipping God in prayer based on the model of worship laid out by Mary in Luke 1:46-55.

[The following devotional was written by Wildwood Community Church Student Pastor Jonathan Holmes and is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Leaping for Joy by Jonathan Holmes

Read: Isaiah 40:3 (prophecy) & Luke 1:39-45, 57-66 (fulfillment)

Elizabeth, a relative of Mary’s, was past the natural pregnancy age and remained unable to have children. But six months earlier, Elizabeth found out she was pregnant as well. The baby in Elizabeth’s womb was John the Baptist who was coming to prepare the way for Jesus’ ministry. As the women drew near to one another, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb “leaped for joy” and she began to shower blessings upon Mary and the unborn Jesus. During his ministry years later, Jesus would say of Elizabeth’s son that “among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist.”

Although the conversation between these pregnant mothers was rather simple, and the actions of Elizabeth’s unborn child were common to the behavior of any unborn child, the significance of this encounter was huge as the long-awaited birth of the coming Savior was already causing the world to stir with anticipation. John’s sole purpose was to prepare the way for Christ. Although still an unborn child, his very first encounter with Jesus caused John to leap for joy.

As we prepare our hearts through the Advent Season, may we prepare them to leap for joy. In just a few weeks we celebrate the birth of our Savior and there is no greater reason to be filled with joy than a reminder of our Savior’s first advent.

Question

• What is it about Jesus that brings joy to your heart?

Advent Prayers

• Spend some time praying for the Holy Spirit to move throughout our church.
• Pray that God will cause your heart to “leap for joy” as you await Jesus’ return with restless anticipation.
• Ask God to lead you in preparing the way for His return and what that will look like.

[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Christmas Recipe by Mark Robinson

Read:  Luke 1:26-38

Today cooking shows are all the rage.  An entire television station (the Food Network) shows programming all day to help us know how to make the perfect broccoli casserole.  Cooking food is not nearly as interesting to me as eating it . . . but there are times it is important to understand what actually goes into making certain dishes.  Let’s just say (for instance) that someone has a peanut allergy.  It would be imperative for that person to know if ANY peanuts were used in making the Pad Thai.

In Luke 1:26-38, God shows us what all went into making Jesus born on the earth.  This is important because God is a holy God and the idea of a divine incarnation raises some serious questions.

• Was Jesus really God?
• Was Jesus really man?

In order to prepare the incarnation, Luke 1 tells us that several ingredients were necessary in certain order:

• Mary.  Mary was an essential ingredient in this story.  Some have tried to mythologize Mary into some sort of super hero, but that is not the biblical picture of Mary.  The biblical picture of Mary highlights how normal she really was.  She was so normal, she had sinned and disobeyed God in her life, and was in need of a Savior, just like the rest of the world.  By being born of a woman (Mary), Jesus was clothing Himself in a fully human body.
• The Holy Spirit.  The second necessary ingredient to the incarnation was the Spirit of God.  The miraculous conception of Jesus happened because the Spirit of God was present and “overshadowed” Mary causing her to conceive.  By this Jesus would not merely be human, but be the Son of God.  This divine inspiration allowed Jesus to be human, but miss a sinful disposition.  It allowed Jesus to both Man AND God.
• Mix in a dash of Joseph.  Joseph was Jesus’ connection to the royal lineage of King David.  This allowed legitimacy to Jesus’ kingly reign, and foreshadowed His fulfillment as the King of Israel who would sit on David’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7).

When you serve up all three of these ingredients, you have a God/Man who can save humanity from our sins and reconcile us to our Heavenly Father.  Serving up the King of Kings is a delicate process theologically.  That is why God broadcasts the details so we can enjoy its rich flavor.

All this points to the fact that Jesus is uniquely qualified from His birth to His death.  These extraordinary events identify God’s presence and invite us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”

Question:

• Who do you know who is 13 years old?  Mary was about 14 when the angel came and announced to her that Jesus would be her son.  How do you think you would have responded if this news came to you?

Advent Prayer:

• Thank God that His Word is true!

[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Don’t DVR Matthew by Mark Robinson

Read: Matthew 1:1-17

Watching TV on a DVR has conditioned me to bypass anything I see as “filler” to get to the main course.  Sadly, too often I take this attitude with me when I read my Bible . . . a book that has NO FILLER.  All of the Bible is inspired by God, therefore, I should not fast forward through any of it.  Yet, too often I come to certain sections of God’s word and want to double tap the right facing arrows, speeding up progress until the “main story” resumes.  One such section of Scripture we are tempted to fast forward through is found in Matthew 1:1-17.  I hope when you read this section earlier, you did not fast forward your way through this list.  If you did, you would have missed some very interesting and spiritually important facts:

▪Jesus is a direct descendant of Abraham.  This means that Jesus would be the One through whom all the people of the earth would be blessed according to God’s promise (Genesis 12:1-3)

▪Jesus is a descendant of David, thus having a royal lineage.  This also makes possible God’s promise to David of his descendants sitting on Israel’s throne forever (2 Samuel 7:12-16)

▪5 women’s names appear in this genealogy (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheeba, and Mary). These women remind us of God’s love of both men and women and His intention to use both extensively in His plans.

If you DVR your way through Matthew 1, you will miss some very important stuff.  This Christmas, as you read the Christmas story, read all of it . . . and be blessed.

Questions

• Do you like to fast forward through commercials or parts of a show that you don’t find personally interesting?

• What stands out to you most about the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1?

Advent Prayer

• Knowing that God makes good on His promises to His people, think of a promise that God has made to you (as His follower) and pray, thanking Him for His provision in your life.

[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Opening Act by Mark Robinson

Read: Luke 1:5-25

All four Gospels begin the story of Jesus with the story of John the Baptist.  Do you find that odd?  Only one Gospel mentions the shepherds.  One Gospel mentions the Magi.  One Gospel tells Joseph’s back story.  One Gospel mentions Mary’s story.  No Gospels mention the Little Drummer Boy, yet EVERY Gospel mentions John the Baptist.  This indicates to us that there is something important about John’s life.  But what is it?

The Gospel accounts all tell us the same story.  John came in the “spirit of Elijah” as the “opening act” to Jesus of Nazareth.  Before Jesus would take the stage and reconcile us to God, John came to help get us ready.

John was to showcase God’s Truth in front of a large audience, while prepping the people for the Main Show.  His message of repentance helped remind people of their need that Jesus would meet.  The water baptism he offered, gave people a chance to pull out of their orbit around self-righteous religion, and seek new life in God.  John talked about Messiah coming soon, recreating or reinforcing the true hope for the people of Israel.  John did this job, and he did it very well.  When Jesus finally “takes the stage” after His baptism in the Jordan River, God’s people were more ready to respond based on the preparation they received from the opening act.  As Luke 1:17 says, John was “to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

This Christmas, as you flip through the first few pages of each Gospel to get to the headlining event, don’t just skip over the story of John the Baptist.  God wanted every heart to prepare room for Messiah, so He sent John ahead to make those arrangements.

Questions

• If you are in a relationship with Christ today, no doubt you too had an opening act that God used in your life to prepare you for Jesus.  God uses a variety of things/people/experiences to prepare us for Him.  For the Israelites of the first century, John was the opening act . . . who did God use in your life to prepare the way for Jesus?

• Is there anyone in your life right now that God might want to use you as an “opening act” to help lead them to Christ?

Advent Prayer

• Pray for someone in your life that you would like to help lead to a relationship with Christ this Advent season.

[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Santa and the Savior by Mark Robinson

Read: John 1:16

For my money, the most remarkable thing about Santa Claus is not his generosity, or his production capability, or his mode of transportation, or his appearance, or his schedule.  What amazes me most about Santa is that he would actually come and visit me.  He would take my requests, come to my house, slide down my chimney, eat my cookies, drink my milk, and give me presents.  That is what is most amazing to me about Santa Claus.  In my mind’s eye, I can imagine someone so generous.  I can imagine someone so inventive.  But I cannot imagine THAT SOMEONE caring about me.

Now, switch from Santa to the Savior.  For a moment, think about the historical account of Jesus, the Son of God coming into the world.  What is it about this story that you find most amazing?  For some of you, maybe you marvel at the humility it takes for God to take on the limitations of a human body.  For others of you, maybe you are astounded that this same God would be born into a barn, instead of a castle.  Still, for others, maybe you are awestruck by the fact that the Son of God would be born into a human family.

For my money, though, the most awesome thing about the birth of Jesus Christ is that He was born because He cared about me.  He understood my separation from God because of my sin, so He came to my planet, lived my kind of life, endured my kind of temptation, felt my kind of pain, and died in my place, to give me the unbelievable yet believable gift of eternal life!  That is what stops me in my tracks as I ponder the Christmas holiday.

In my mind’s eye, I can imagine a God so generous.  I can imagine a God so gracious.  I can imagine a God so good.  But I am awe struck that this God would apply those truths to specific sinful people . . . including me.  Some have taken this truth, processed it through their “adult” minds of intellect and reason and concluded that such a Jesus cannot exist . . . however, the facts do not bear this out.  Jesus is real.  He is alive.  He was born into this world, and He died to rescue us out of it!  This Christmas as you ponder the awesome events of the baby in the manger, remind yourself of this fact . . . He came for you.

Questions:

• What part of the Christmas story do you find most amazing?

• Have you ever stopped to consider that Jesus was born to give YOU grace upon grace (John 1:16)?

Advent Prayer:

• Thank God that He is aware of your circumstance and situation.  God sent Jesus so that He might have a relationship with you.

[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Can This House Hold Him? by Mark Robinson

Read:  John 1:14, 18

The year was 959 BCE.  The place was Jerusalem.  500 years had passed since God had called His people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea.  King David had passed away and now the ultimate “wise guy,” King Solomon had ascended to the throne.  By God’s design, Solomon completed a project his father David had planned for . . . the construction of a Temple for God in the capital city.  Inside the Temple, the ark of the covenant would be placed and God’s presence would hover.

In the year 959, Solomon dedicated the Temple and the words he shared provide a powerful reminder for us at Christmas time.  In 1 Kings 8:27, Solomon says of the Temple: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth?  Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You; how much less this house that I have built!”

As Solomon looked at the impressive Temple the people of Israel had just constructed, one of the seven “wonders of the ancient world,” he marveled at the thought that God would inhabit such a common place.

Imagine that you were standing in front of the White House, the Taj Mahal, Buckingham Palace, or Notre Dame Cathedral.  As you look at these impressive structures, despite all their grandeur, you probably would say something similar to Solomon.  As beautiful as the best of our buildings are, it is impossible for mankind to create an adequate “home” for an eternal, omnipotent, omniscient God.

And yet at Christmas time, we celebrate God coming, not to a palace, but a stable!  We celebrate God arriving not in a chariot but in the womb of a teenaged girl riding on a donkey.  We celebrate God not merely sending a telegram through the stars, but arriving in the flesh.  Listen to what John says in His Gospel, John 1:14, 18: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth . . . No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.”

When we look at nativity sets around our houses this Christmas, we should wonder like Solomon did, “Did God indeed dwell upon the earth?”  The answer to this question is an emphatic YES!

Jesus moved into our neighborhood.  Jesus spoke in a way we could understand.  Jesus demonstrated all Grace and Truth so that we might KNOW GOD.  By living out a life in human flesh and having that life preserved for us in the Bible, we can understand what God’s character is like in three dimensions.

Do not let the wonder of the incarnation slip by you this year.  God did indeed dwell on the earth, and we are blessed beyond measure as a result.

Questions:

• What is the most impressive building you have ever seen?  Is the most impressive house you have ever seen an adequate home for God?  Why or why not?

• Jesus chose to come and dwell in a stable (for His first few moments after His birth).  Is this surprising to you?  Why or why not?

Advent Prayer:

• Ask God to help you make this Christmas season about Him.

[The following devotional is a part of our 2014 Advent Devotional Guide.  We will be posting a devotional each day on this blog between November 30 – December 31, 2014.]

 

Rejection of the King by Mark Robinson

Read:  John 1:11-13

Can you imagine a King being rejected by His own Kingdom?  Believe it or not it happens . . . and it has happened to the best King that ever lived — the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.  As you saw in John 1:11, when Jesus came into the world, He was not accepted by all of the people who lived in His country.

When Jesus was rejected by some, however, He did not pout or stop His mission.  Instead, He made a very generous offer.  He promised to be a loving and generous King to ANY who would receive Him!  This meant that whether you lived in Africa, Asia, America, Australia, or Europe, if you received Jesus, He would give you eternal life and forgive your sins.  Isn’t that amazing?

All people on the earth have a choice.  We can either reject Jesus (as some of His fellow countrymen did), or we can receive Him as Lord.  How about you?  What choice will you make?

Questions:

• What does it mean to reject something?  What does it mean to receive it?

• Jesus came and offers a great gift to you – the gift of forgiveness and eternal life.  We can either receive or reject these gifts.  Have you received it?  Are you rejecting Him?

Advent Prayer:

• If you are receiving the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ, express that faith to God in prayer right now.